Help About...

NAVIGATING THE SITE

Clicking On Links
Links can either be underlined or not, depending on how your browser preferences are set. Many people turn underlines off to make the page look less cluttered. On or off, though, you can tell that a word or phrase is a link because it is usually (but not always) a different color and your browser's little hand will magically appear when you roll your cursor over the link.

Downloading Articles To Word Processing Programs
To copy articles for later reading and/or printing off line, simply click anywhere in the article to establish its location. Then from the Edit menu pick "Select All" or, with the mouse button held down, slide your cursor over the material you want to copy. The entire article or your selected text will then become highlighted. Then choose "Copy," Next, open a new page in a word processing program and from its Edit menu choose "Paste." And there it is. Don't forget to save the new page with a name of your choosing.

Downloading Graphics
Images don't ride along with the words and have to be gathered separately. Roll your cursor over a chosen image, click your mouse button and hold it down. A menu will appear. Select the choice that says; "Download Image To Disk" or its equivalent. Release your mouse button and a dialogue box will appear giving you the name of the image and its suffix; .JPG, .GIF, etc. You can opt to have it saved with that name or change the name, but don't change the suffix. Hit "Save" and it's on its way.

Downloading Entire Pages
If you want to take down an entire page (text and graphics) to display at a later time off-line, you may use the SAVE AS command in your browser and choose Web Archive as an option. Give it a name, click on SAVE, and it will be downloaded to your computer in its entirety. When you bring it up off-line it will be displayed exactly as it appeared on the web. If you have an older browser that doesn't offer web archiving, you can search for a shareware program that will do the same thing or update to a newer version of your browser.

Fast Click, Slow ClickSome browsers have idiosyncrasies (like we do) and if you hold your mouse button down too long when clicking on a link, that link may open in a new window. It's no big deal, but it may not be what you expect. Usually, clicking and releasing faster will solve the problem.

Pages That Open in New Windows
Some pages are programmed to open in new windows, which appear on top of the original page you came from. When you're finished reading the new page, simply close it and you'll be back where you began.

USING INFO-SHARE

Threads
Threads are usually letters that relate to an original letter and are displayed in order (usually by date) adjacent to each other so you don't have to go searching all over for them.

Speedy Shortcut
When there are a lot of questions and answers displayed and you click on one of them, the page is usually replaced with one that shows the letter you want to see. Then, when you want to go back, the original page of questions and answers has to reload again, leaving you thinking: "There's gotta be a better way."

There is. When you click on a link, hold your mouse button down and slide down the menu that appears. Then choose the item that asks you if you want your browser to open that link in a new window. This should leave the information on the original page intact. When you're finished, simply close the window and you're right back at the original page without having to wait for it to reload.

Writing Off Line
There's nothing more infuriating or which will bring tears quicker to grown men's (or women's) eyes than having written a great question or answer and then watching it vaporize before, during or after being sent. You might also get disconnected, have your program quit, or well, you know how it is...the web gremlins are just up to their old tricks.

If your message is more involved than a few lines, write it off line in a word processing program. Correct it, smooth it, (even spell-check it, if you wish) and, when it meets your literary standards, simply copy it and paste it into Info-Share's box. Then, if it goes bye-bye, you've still got it for as many other tries as it takes. You've also got a record of it, which is nice to have.

USING RESOURCES

Dead Links
No where do web addresses change more often than in the digital camera and imaging field. As new models and new software come out, manufacturers give them new addresses and then frequently change them. So don't be frustrated if you click on a link get a "no can find" message like: The Attempt To Load (the address) Failed.

We try to get you as close as possible to what we've discussed by bypassing the manufacturer's home page and all the non-related pages in between. If the link is dead, simply start deleting parts of the address from right to left until you get to a live link. Sometimes it may be necessary to go all the way back to the home page. That's life.